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The Gestapo (abbreviation for Geheime Staatspolizei, or "secret state police") was the agency of Nazi Germany in charge of surveillance of the population to monitor for dissent, disloyalty, and unrest. The group was known to employ arrest and brutal tactics, such as torture, in order to achieve its means. Gestapo leaders were later considered as "evil psychotic men". (TOS: "Patterns of Force")

A widely cited goof in "Patterns of Force" is that Kirk misspoke his order since the Gestapo were secret policemen and had no doctors in their organization. In reality, some Gestapo agents did have medical degrees (mostly those in high level administration positions or those involved in concentration camp medical experiments); however, there was no medical corps of the Gestapo with such persons cross assigned to the office of the SS Surgeon General which oversaw all medical personnel of the SS.

The original Gestapo officers of Nazi Germany wore plain clothes in the execution of their duties, and were not known to wear SS uniforms, although the recreated Ekosian Gestapo wore standard black uniforms of the Ekosian SS.

German Gestapo officers deployed to foreign countries (such as France and the Eastern Front) did in fact wear grey SS uniforms with a blank collar tab. This uniform was worn regardless of whether or not the Gestapo agent was also a member of the SS.